Playback quality and buffering issues

Vimeo videos are viewable in a variety of different qualities, ranging from 360p to 8K. In “Auto” mode, the Vimeo player switches between all available qualities to accommodate changes in the viewer’s Internet, processing speed, and player size.

The quality of your playback experience is largely dependent on how your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or mobile provider connects to Vimeo's playback servers. Keep in mind that your overall Internet speed can vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to: time of day, WiFi performance, other devices/ users utilizing your connection, and the strength of the signal provided by your ISP.

The following table shows the minimum speeds required for each playback quality:

Quality

Required Minimum Bandwidth

240p

500 kbps

360p

1 Mbps

720p

3 Mbps

1080p

7 Mbps

2K

12 Mbps

4K & up

22 Mbps

When a video plays in lower than expected quality, it’s likely because the viewer’s Internet speed (bandwidth) or computer processing speed cannot support higher quality playback. Viewers can manually force a particular quality by selecting the gear icon in the lower right corner of the player. (This may result in frequent buffering if the bandwidth does not meet the required minimum outlined above.)

Online Speed Tests

Speed tests can give you a general sense of the download speeds you’re receiving from your Internet provider, but it's important to note that the servers used in the speed test are different from those used by other services. The actual speeds being received by your device may differ. This is because speed tests are designed to ping the closest server to your location, while other servers may be further and more utilized.

As a best practice, we recommend avoiding Flash based speed tests and using trusted HTML5 tests like https://testmy.net/download to get a general estimate of the speeds you're receiving from your Internet Provider. If you expect higher bandwidth than what's being reported, we recommend getting in touch with your Internet Provider for more information.

Check your source file

Quality problems can also arise when there is a problem with the source video file. If there are any quality issues visible in your source (minor compression artifacts, pixelation, etc), try re-exporting the file and re-uploading to Vimeo. Even small issues can become amplified during our compression process. The higher quality you can give us, the better your results.

Frequent buffering during playback

Frequent buffering can occur when the viewer’s Internet bandwidth does not support playback of the selected video quality. Try switching to “Auto” in the quality menu (the default), if available. If “Auto” is not available, switch to one of the lower quality options. If your video still fails to start, check your estimated bandwidth here.

Dropped frames during playback

Dropped frames can occur if your machine/device’s processing is unable to keep up with the video data that’s being transferred. If your system cannot process a higher quality of video, frames of video may be skipped, which can cause audio to become out of sync as well. This tends to happen most when multiple programs are running while viewing video. Try closing unused applications or browser tabs and/or update your browser and graphics card.

1) Open any video you’re having trouble with2) Press play and watch the video 3) Once the issue occurs, press “d” on your keyboard to open the debug panel4) Click the blue "Copy Debug Key" button to obtain the unique ID associated with your playback session*5) Paste the entire ID into your support ticket and send it our way for analysis. (Note: The debug key will be comprised of random characters which will then be used to access playback information in our system)

*If you aren't seeing the option to copy a debug key, please make sure that your browser is not sending a "do not track" request.

In addition to the debug panel log, we'll also need:

A detailed description of the problem you’re experiencing (e.g buffering or dropped frames)